1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector for a rib and a spreader of a parasol, particularly to one possible to prevent a rib and a spreader from rubbing each other, and accordingly also to prevent the paint on the rib and the spreader from scrapped off by friction, and further capable to let the ribs and the spreaders all smoothly expand open from a collapsed condition.
2. Description of Prior Art
A conventional parasol shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a shank 10, a plurality of ribs 20 and a plurality of spreaders 30. The ribs 20 respectively have their upper end connected pivotally with a ferrule 101 at the upper end of the shank 10, and the spreaders 30 respectively have their upper end pivotally connected with one end of a metal connector 40 and their lower end pivotally connected with an periphery of a ring 102 fitted around movably on the shank 10. The metal connector further has an inner hollow for an intermediate portion of each rib 20 to fit firmly therein. Then when the conventional parasol is in a collapsed condition, the ribs 20 and the spreaders 30 are all pulled to rest around the shank 10, with the ring 102 moved along the shank 10 from an upper position to a lower position and by means of the connectors 40 functioning pivots.
But as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the conventional parasol, each rib 20 and each spreader 30 is connected by each connector 40, which is made of metal in order to strengthen their combining force. And each connector has an upper clamp portion 401 defining an inner opening for clamping each rib 20, and a pair of studs 402 separated defining an inner hollow envelops the upper end of each spreader 30 and then pivotally connects it with a rivet 50. In addition, an outer appearance of the conventional parasol is also important so the shank 10, the ribs 20 and the spreaders 30 are all painted colored.
As shown in FIG. 1, the ribs 20 and the spreaders 30 of the conventional parasol are respectively connected with the connectors 40, and all of them are made of metal, and the upper end of each spreader 30 is directly fitted in the studs 402 of each connector 40 for pivotally connection, with the inner surfaces of the studs 402 directly contacting with the outer surfaces of the upper end of each spreader 30. Then the conventional parasol is expanded open, with the studs 402 having their ends rotating with the rivet 50 as a pivot, causing the upper end of each spreader 30 rubs the studs 402 so the paint on the rubbed portion of the upper end of each spreader 30 may be scrapped off. Then repeated friction may gradually shave off the paint on a larger area to let metal material exposed. So the exposed area may become rusty, especially maybe worsened in rusting, by exposing the conventional parasol outdoors and receiving sunshine and rain often. Further, the shank 10 may gradually get rusted, too, after the ribs 20, the spreaders 30 and the connectors 40 got rusted, making the parasol unusable, shortening its service life, as all the ribs 20, the spreaders 30 and the connectors 40 rest around the shank 10 when the parasol is collapsed, with the studs 402 striking on the shank 10 and also scraping off the paint on the shank 10.
In addition, there is another problem arising from expanding the parasol from the collapsed condition. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in case the parasol is to be expanded out from the collapsed condition, a user usually places the parasol in a horizontal position owing to the excessively long shank 10 and the excessive large dimensions of the canopy, and then the user moves the ring 102 upward along the shank 10 until the canopy expands a little, Then the user moves the parasol to an upright position to continue moving the ring 102 up until the canopy is fully expanded out. But it was found that when the parasol is laid in a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 3, those ribs 20, those spreaders 30, those connectors 40 and the canopy on the shank 10 rest downward on the shank 10 by the gravitational force so the contained angle α 1 between each rib 20 and each spreader 30 is very small as shown in FIG. 4, almost 0, or the point of each spreader 30 at each connector 40 sags a bit only. On the contrary, those ribs, those spreaders 30 and the canopy under the shank 10 sag down a little, having the contained angle α 2 between each rib becoming larger as shown in FIG. 4. Then a user may hardly move the ring 102 upward to expand the canopy out, and has to use a large force for pushing up the ring 102, which then moves the ribs 20 at first to expand a little for fully expanding the canopy fully out, very troublesome to handle.